Wake Forest University's wording, checked October 26, 2026“Tell us what piques your intellectual curiosity or has helped you understand the world’s complexity. This can include a work you’ve read, a project you’ve completed for a class, and even co-curricular activities in which you have been involved.”
How to approach it
- 1One work, project or activity and the question it opened.
- 2The prompt offers two doors: what piques your curiosity, or what helped you understand the world's complexity. Choose one.
- 3At 150 words, one source and one idea is the whole essay.
A structure that works
One way to shape this answer. It describes moves, not sentences: the words have to be yours.
- 1The work, project or activity, named in the first sentence.
- 2The moment it complicated something you thought was simple.
- 3The question it left you with.
- 4What you did next to chase it.
Where the 150 words go
| Part | Words |
|---|---|
| The moment or example | about 60 |
| What it shows or changed | about 50 |
| Why it matters, or what you bring | about 40 |
Mistakes to avoid
- A list of interests.
- Summarizing the book or project instead of your thinking.
The checklist our grader uses for this question
When you check your Wake Forest answers, this answer is read against these 5 areas. Each comes back Met, Partly or Missing with a quote from your draft as evidence, and together with the 150 words limit they set its readiness verdict.
| Area | What a reader looks for |
|---|---|
| Answers the question | The opening sentences answer what was asked, plainly, before background or a hook; every part of a multi-part question is answered. |
| One specific idea | It names one specific topic, question or idea early, narrower than a whole subject. |
| Evidence you pursue it | It shows what the applicant read, built, asked or tried on their own, beyond required class work. |
| Your own thinking | The reader sees how the applicant's mind works on it: a connection, an opinion, a question still open. |
| Wake Forest's ask | It does every part of what Wake Forest's question asks, in the college's own terms. |
Check your Wake Forest answers
Paste this answer (and any other Wake Forest answers you have). One report covers all of them: the checklist above for each, a note on every sentence, coaching questions and a revision plan. One supplement token ($4.99) covers the whole college. We never write a word of it.
Check your college supplemental essays
All of this college's answers in one report, for 1 supplement token.
Not affiliated with or endorsed by Common App or any college.
Open the picker and search for a college to see its 2026–27 supplemental questions.
Supplement reviews are paid: your free review is for the Common App essay or a UC answer · we never write your answers
Questions
More on Wake Forest and this kind of question
- Yale: A topic or idea that excites you · 200 words
- Brown: A class you would teach · 100-150 words
- Dartmouth: What excites you? · 250 words
- Dartmouth: Insight from reading (Matt Haig) · 250 words
- Dartmouth: Celebrate your nerdy side · 250 words
- Stanford: What excites you about learning · 100-250 words